


Seven Thousand Minutes

by lovexthexflash



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, College, Comfort, Comfort Sex, Discover sexuality, First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Happy Ending, High School, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Male Friendship, Oil massage, Seven Minutes In Heaven Game, Smut, Students
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 13:13:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20340676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovexthexflash/pseuds/lovexthexflash
Summary: When Tony goes into a closet for a mock "seven minutes of heaven" session with his best friend Stephen, a ball starts rolling that he never even knew existed. Kissing Stephen just seems like a funny joke, but the joke quickly gets out of hand. Worse, Stephen seems to enjoy it. As Tony battles his growing curiosity, he shies away from the big question: should the two of them remain best friends, or should he let his body lead them into something more?





	Seven Thousand Minutes

**Author's Note:**

> Based on “Seven Thousand Minutes” by Ingela Bohm, BUT little different story with DIFFERENT ending, because Tony and Stephen deserve better.

_Party at Rhodey's_

_A group play Seven minutes in heaven_

_and, of course, two of them are Tony and Stephen_

“Tony and…” Rhodey groped around in the hat for a long time, and then pulled out the second piece of paper with a flourish. Unfolding it, he was about to say the name of the lucky lady who was to spend seven minutes in Tony heaven…

And then he burst out laughing. “Stephen!” he hooted, waving it around for everyone to see. The room erupted in drunken cheers, and Tony joined in. Stephen looked wide-eyed and awkward, but that wasn’t unusual. The guy seemed intent on going through life inviting criticism and derision with a gauche kind of stoicism.

“Okay then,” Tony smiled and stood up – a little uncertainly, but not clumsily enough to look like an idiot. The game had chosen him, and he mustn’t let his friends down. They wanted a good show.

But Stephen didn’t move a muscle. “Come on, be a good sport,” Tony cajoled. “I promise I won’t go past second base.”

That earned him another round of guffaws. Stephen looked up at him with an inscrutable expression on his face – almost as if he was sad. But Tony kept holding his hand out until Stephen’s finally came up to meet it. His slim fingers crept into Tony’s palm like a kitten begging for a petting. Tony closed his hand on them, pulling Stephen up in a single, smooth motion. Stephen staggered a little and ended up with his nose almost touching Tony’s.

“Hey, don’t sneak extra minutes!” someone hollered, whipping up new giggles.

Tony slipped an arm around Stephen’s waist and then mimed an ass-grab: anything for his audience. Anything to keep the mood light and fun. But when he looked at Stephen, something tugged at his ribs. He seemed so small. As if he was trying to creep inside his own skin and hide.

“Come on,” Tony said again and pulled at Stephen’s hand. He could feel the reluctance in the way that hand lay too stiffly in his, but there was no hesitation in Stephen’s feet. Murmurs of laughter followed them all the way to the closet. When he’d closed the door behind them, Tony let go of Stephen’s hand and switched on the light. Stephen blinked a little in the glare. “Sorry, man. I just thought, you know…”

“No sweat,” Stephen replied quickly. “I get the joke.”

Said with the most somber face in the history of mankind. Tony couldn’t help cracking up. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“Seven minutes and counting!” Rhodey shouted just outside the door and banged on it. In the background, the other guests sniggered. “And turn off the light, you’re killing the mood,” Rhodey added in a saccharine voice.

Shrugging, Tony obeyed. “Or else he’ll never stop,” he explained to the darkness. He thought he could hear Stephen exhale.

“Six minutes and fifty seconds,” Rhodey informed them.

“Shut up and go away,” Tony barked.

“Ooh,” Rhodey cooed as he walked back to the others. “Lovebird is getting possessive.”

“Don’t mind them,” Tony said. “You know what they’re like.”

Stephen didn’t reply.

“What’s the matter, Stephen? Disappointed that we’re not making out?” Tony giggled. “I’ll feel you up if you want.”

He took a step forward and caught Stephen in his arms. He turned rigid, but didn’t fight Tony’s hand as it crept down his thigh in a parody of seduction. Stephen’s breath came in tiny starts against Tony’s ear, and something in the sound felt strangely intimate. Heart twisting a little in his chest, Tony launched into full goof mode. “Yeah, baby,” he whispered into Stephen’s hair. “Ooh, you feel so good.”

There was a weird sound in Stephen’s throat, almost like a sob. But he still wasn’t resisting the joke. To be fair, he wasn’t playing along either. He was just sort of standing there, straight as a rod, letting Tony enact his little farce without saying anything.

“Come on, Stephen,” Tony smiled into his neck. “It’s your seven minutes of heaven – maybe the only ones you’ll get tonight!” He regretted the words as soon as they hit the air. Stephen turned as fragile as glass, and he started pulling away, but Tony caught his arm. “Shit, Stephen, I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean that.”

“No, you’re right,” Stephen whispered. “I should enjoy it while it lasts.”

And with that, he grabbed hold of Tony’s chin. Tony didn’t understand what was happening until his back gently hit the wall and something covered his mouth. Breath hitching, he felt the tip of Stephen’s tongue brush his lips. He thought he was about to turn his head away and laugh it off, but that wasn’t what happened. Instead, his mouth fell open, and Stephen’s tongue pushed all the way in.

It only lasted for a few seconds. Then Stephen drew back and a cold string of saliva snapped between them, landing on Tony’s chin. “Was that what you wanted?” Stephen asked low in his throat. And then the door opened on a slash of light as Stephen slipped out of the closet and into the cheers and applause of the rest of the party.

Tony watched him go – and then saw him suddenly veer off course and disappear down the stairs. Crap. He had to handle this. Make things right.

Ignoring Rhodey’s insistent questions, he hurried outside. After a few minutes, he found Stephen on a swing set in the garden, bathed in moonlight. When Tony’s shoe scraped against a stone in the grass, the slender figure on the swing made a start, and a hand came away from his mouth.

Tony stopped. He just stood there, watching, for what seemed like half a minute. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Stephen looked back up at him, his eyelashes a bluish quiver in the dusk. The only sound was a faint squeak from the swing.

When the silence began to grow unbearable, Stephen smiled. The moonlight gleamed on his teeth and rippled in his hair as he shook his head. “If you’re going to tell me off, I have to warn you. I don’t have all night.”

The spell was broken. Tony walked up and sat on the swing next to Stephen. “I just don’t understand why you had to… I mean, the others weren’t even looking.”

He felt Stephen turn to look at him, and his cheeks warmed at the silent retort. I wasn’t the one who started it.

“I’m sorry,” Tony mumbled. “I guess I’m a little drunk.”

Stephen chuckled. “Oh, you are.” He turned his head up and gazed as the moon was covered by purplish wisps of cloud. “But not that drunk.”

Tony wanted to object, but he didn’t know how. The haze of beer was heavy in his head, but he wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t string coherent thoughts together.

Stephen leaned his head against the swing chain. There was a faint sound, perhaps a sigh. “I don’t get that game.”

Jumping at the chance to joke, Tony started to explain. “Well, it works like this: you pull a couple of names from a hat…”

He didn’t know why he stopped. Stephen hadn’t said anything, hadn’t even made a gesture. It was just… him. How he was. How he always was. That strange, innate gentleness that could deflect any barb, any taunt. Nothing ever seemed to faze him. He was like a deer who just turned to look the hunter in the eye, and all weapons fell to the ground.

Tony wished there was some way of moving closer, but the swings hung where they hung, two feet apart.

“What did the others say?” Stephen asked.

Tony looked up sharply. “I… didn’t go to them.”

“You didn’t?”

Tony shrugged. “Well, I was going to, but…” He kicked at the ground, making the swing twist and turn. A new kind of silence descended on them as they perhaps both contemplated what this might mean. What would the others think? What would anyone think if a couple of guys went into a closet for seven minutes and then disappeared without a trace?

Tony leaned his head in his hands and groaned. The swing creaked in sympathy. “I want to go home.”

Stephen said nothing.

Breathing in deeply, Tony straightened up. “But I can’t. I have to explain first.”

“Explain what?” Stephen mumbled.

Tony closed his eyes briefly. “I don’t know.”

Stephen giggled under his breath.

Tony gave him a cross look. “You think this is funny?”

“It kind of is, yeah. I mean, what did you think would happen when you dragged me off like that?”

Tony had a sudden urge to yell, but he stopped himself. Because Stephen was right. Tony had invited this whole thing. For once, one of his notorious jokes had backfired, and now he was the butt of it. “So what do you suggest, genius?”

There was a pause, a shift in mood. Sensing it, Tony’s heart shuddered in his chest. Something was happening again, something he couldn’t handle.

He stood up, and the swing rattled behind him. “Let’s go back in.”

“Okay.”

He felt Stephen approach behind him. It was as if Tony’s senses were heightened, tightened like a violin string to the point of snapping. The subtle warmth from Stephen’s living, breathing body invaded his skin through the cotton of his shirt. Moving quickly, he stalked up the slightly sloping lawn, eager to get away from it.

But Stephen was quite as fast as him. Tony heard his labored breathing, unnaturally close in the darkness. Heart beating too hard, he stopped and turned. Stephen almost bumped into him, and Tony grabbed him by the arms to stare at him. Stephen looked back, or at least Tony thought he did: the moon was behind him now, and his face was in shadow.

As if drawn by magic, Tony’s hands let go of Stephen’s arms and hovered up to his face. When his fingertips brushed something soft, like cobwebs of silk, they curled closed. The hard, hot contours of Stephen’s head felt strangely real against his skin. And then Tony’s hands twitched a little, and it was all that was needed. Stephen’s face edged closer. His breath smelled of beer, and it mingled with something that must be cologne. Sweet and heady, it snaked up Tony’s nose, straight to his brain. It lit up his synapses in carnival colors.

They must have lunged at the same time. When their mouths crashed together, there was a sharp pain in Tony’s lip. With a yelp, he yanked his head back. His hands were still buried in Stephen’s hair, curled around the base of his skull. With a gasp, he let go. On instinct, he licked his lips. They tasted salty.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, because someone had to say it. He’d rather it was Stephen, but one look at the way his body leaned into Tony like a wisp of smoke revealed that he wasn’t sorry at all. Not even for biting him.

“Shit,” Tony muttered, and then he slipped and almost fell as his shoes swerved on the grass and he fled into the night.

# ***

_ Next day_

Sitting on the couch and balancing the food on his knees, Stephen drew a hissing breath.

“What?” Tony asked.

“Just my neck. Too much screen time, I guess.”

Tony breathed shallowly, afraid to make a sound. When he did speak, he shocked himself by saying, “Want a massage?”

Flippant, jokey tone. He clenched his teeth, waited for a pissed-off retort that didn’t come.

“I mean, if you’re really hurting. I can’t promise that it’ll be any good, but you know…”

He paused again, watched Stephen for signs of fretting. But Stephen was really still. Only a few wisps of hair trailing down his shoulders trembled for every breath.

“You… you want me to?” Tony added, losing a footing that was already precarious.

Stephen muttered something inaudible. It didn’t sound like a ‘no.’

“Okay…” Tony held his breath. “Uh… maybe you should… you know, lie down?”

Stephen set the food on the floor and lay down on his stomach.

“Can I… get on top of you?” Tony asked. “I mean, sit on your legs?”

Stephen’s hair moved as he nodded. Tony clambered up and straddled him. Stephen’s thighs were hot against his. What was he doing, offering to touch Stephen like this? He should be preparing to leave, to put all this behind him. Should be having The Talk, explaining to his best friend that the kiss had been fun and all, but that he was as straight as they came, and Stephen shouldn’t be expecting any more favors.

But instead he choked out a weak, “Okay. I’ll just… I’ll start with your back, yeah?”

“Wait.” Stephen squirmed a little and managed to worm out of his shirt. He didn’t look at Tony, just dropped it on the floor and hid in the cushions again. Tony looked down at the smooth silk of his back, exposed now like a sacrifice.

_Such trust_. That’s what he read in those beautiful lines, tense or no. Stephen trusted him.

Tony let his hands land gently on the small of Stephen’s back. Maybe he should start somewhere safer – somewhere more logical, like up at his shoulder-blades where he was probably aching. But the hint of dimples… it was too much. He had to touch him there.

There was a sound as he swept his hands over Stephen’s skin – a sound that was muffled and involuntary. Tony spread his fingers to almost encompass Stephen’s entire waist._ I’m making those sounds. I’m making him make those sounds_. Tony watched his own hands make wider and wider circles, claim that pale territory. _Mine. Oh, Stephen…_

He wasn’t really giving him a massage. He was being too gentle for that. And Stephen must notice. “You okay?” Tony whispered the frightened little question.

“Mh-yeah.”

Tony dared to breathe a little deeper. “Relaxing?”

Stephen said nothing, and Tony stroked a little lower, nudged his waistband. There was the tiniest movement beneath him: legs tensing, ass… rising? He stopped, let his hands rest on Stephen’s sides. The motion had been so small. He could have misinterpreted it.

But…

“You, uh… wanna get out of your pants, too?” His voice rang out too bravely in the silence of the room, and he fumbled to explain. “I mean, a lot of tension sits in the lower back…”

Stephen moved again beneath him, pushed the denim-and-cotton down his hips until he was entirely exposed. Then he raised his arms over his head and just lay there. Oh God… Tony stared at his bare ass. This is crazy.

But crazy or not, he climbed off to pull Stephen’s underwear all the way down, and Stephen didn’t stop him. Tony swallowed down words that clamored to be let out, beating their wings against ribs that ached. “Maybe…” He cleared his throat, and then closed his eyes to be able to say it. “Maybe I should use some oil. Or something. You know, to…” He trailed away, half scared to death. But still Stephen didn’t object, and still he didn’t look at Tony. There was just the slightest motion of his head. A nod? It had to be.

Hands trembling now, Tony went to get a bottle from the kitchen. It wasn’t exactly massage oil, but it was slippery and would probably work. Pouring a small amount into his palms, he once again straddled Stephen. He spread the shine over his skin and actually pretended to massage his back for a bit – a few rougher, more kneading strokes – and then he moved downwards again.

“Where does it hurt?” he asked, but it came out voiceless.

“I… don’t know,” came meekly from the cushion.

“Do you think…?” Tony held his breath for a moment. “D’you think it would help to, um… work your… uh… here?” He trailed a couple of fingers down to the curve of Stephen’s ass. He wasn’t being obscene – there was some kind of major muscle there, obviously, and it needed attention.

“Maybe,” Stephen whispered.

In a daze, Tony slipped his hands lower and swirled his slick fingertips along the lines running from Stephen’s hips, even digging his thumbs into the muscle, pretending to know what he was doing while fighting a losing battle against the pounding ache in his groin. And still Stephen let him go on, let him touch him lower and lower, closer and closer…

“You relaxing yet?” Tony managed, and there was some kind of sound in response. It wasn’t an actual word, but it sounded positive.

Correction: it sounded like pleasure. Tony could have groaned aloud. His sanity was as slippery as his hands now.

“I can make you really relax if you want.”

There was a sudden stillness, as if Stephen had a flash of understanding. A couple of heartbeats went by. Then, striving to keep his breathing normal, Tony stroked a little closer to that enticing line – gently, slowly. When Stephen didn’t stop him, he reached for the oil and poured a thin stream down his tailbone, watched it ooze into the crack.

Finally, a reaction. The moan that hit the air was the most wanton sound Tony had ever heard. Heart beating quicker, he let his fingers circle closer, closer, oil shining all over his skin, staining the corduroy.

And then, like a miracle, Stephen opened his legs. Tony’s fingers slipped between his cheeks and were buried in warmth, and now he couldn’t stop the panting half-sob from breaking against his lips. It was just too much – the feel of Stephen’s ass rising to meet him, rearing back against his fingers, seeking that deeper contact.

There was a shift in the universe as he felt the snug heat envelop him. Leaning down, Tony whispered in Stephen’s ear, “I liked it. The kiss.”

“Yeah?” Stephen’s answering whisper was strained.

“Yeah. You, uh… well, if you… wanna…”

“… fuck?”

Tony swallowed convulsively. “W… what?”

When he looked over his shoulder, Stephen’s eyes were darker than the night outside. “Want. To. Fuck?”

“Like… what? In…?”

Stephen nodded. “It feels fucking amazing.”

Tony stifled a gasp. How can he know that? he wondered, but even as the answer stared him in the face, his internal defenses slammed shut. Not him. Not possible.

But this wasn’t possible either: the two of them, on a couch, Tony’s finger slippery with oil and Stephen, and Stephen staring him down.

Waiting.

_For what? Permission?_

“No.”

_Fuck no, in fact._

But just when he thought Stephen would be angry for leading him on, his lips pulled apart in an amused smile. “It might be the only time you get to try it.”

And at once Tony understood: Stephen was offering to let Tony… His eyes darted down to Stephen’s crotch. He breathed in to speak, but nothing came out.

“Yeah?” Stephen purred, still smiling. He looked so confident all of a sudden, as if this was familiar ground. As if he let guys fuck him all the time.

Ribs cinching his heart at the thought, Tony leaned down again. Stephen craned his neck to meet him, and when their mouths collided, something inside Tony crumbled. “Yeah,” he whispered against Stephen’s wet lips.

Stephen turned around under him, and Tony clambered off him to let him sit up. Stephen met his eyes, as if he wanted to confirm. Whatever he saw there, he stood up and went into the bathroom. While he waited, Tony undressed, hands shaking with equal parts fear and excitement. Just as he stretched out on the couch, Stephen came back with a tube in his hand and a packet of condoms.

Something strange and electric washed over Tony, and his cock jumped. The sight of those condoms… it made it real. Hyper-real. He was going to push inside that body, the body of his best friend.

Ripping open the foil, Stephen expertly rolled a condom onto Tony’s straining erection. He should be ashamed of how eagerly it reached for Stephen’s hand, but he was just being so fucking perfect. Careful, quick – experienced.

For a brief moment, dark swirls covered Tony’s vision. Stephen had done this before. Tony struggled to breathe normally, but the thought made his throat feel like a thorny vine. How many? His mind threw up horror clips of big men pounding Stephen against brick walls, in toilet cubicles, on the hoods of cars, and even though Tony almost felt nauseous, his cock pulsed and swelled with the need to do the same.

Clicking the tube open with a flick of the thumb, Stephen squirted lube into his palm and smeared it all over Tony’s length. Reaching behind him, Stephen took hold of Tony’s cock and guided it between his ass cheeks. A strangled moan tumbled over Tony’s lips as he was pushed into the most overwhelming, tight heat… so easily? His mouth fell open in surprise. Just like that, just…

Stephen leaned over him, hair falling down to caress Tony’s cheek. His cock hung hard and heavy over Tony’s abdomen, moist tip grazing burning skin. “You okay?”

Tony garbled a laugh. “I’m okay? Jesus…” He grabbed hold of Stephen’s hips as he started rocking back and forth, nudging Tony’s cock deeper inside. Tony drew a raucous breath. That scalding heat, that searing shaft of pleasure that was almost pain…

But there wasn’t a twitch in Stephen’s face, no thinning lips, no knitted eyebrows. He was just riding Tony, almost languidly, gradually taking all of him. When Tony was completely buried, Stephen stilled for a moment and just sat there, his balls squished against Tony’s curls, his cock leaking moisture onto his stomach.

Tony moved his hands up Stephen’s chest. Stray hairs tickled his palms as he gingerly caressed that alien shape, and when he brushed over hardened nipples, Stephen breathed in sharply and closed his eyes. Tony wanted to ask if he liked it, if that was what he was into, but he couldn’t. It was enough that they’d stumbled into this crazy new reality, that he was balls-deep in his friend’s ass and about to fucking shoot in there. He couldn’t start talking dirty, too.

Leaning down so that his lips touched Tony’s ear, Stephen murmured, “Relax. It’s just sex.”

Tony swallowed. How could he dismiss it as ‘just sex,’ the way Stephen straightened up again and arched his back, the way he rose on his knees and pushed down again, making Tony’s cock slide back and forth through that tight channel? How could he erase the image of Stephen’s swinging hair, his tensing arms as he caught himself on Tony’s legs, or his blood-filled cock that bobbed up and down, slapping Tony’s stomach for every movement?

Or that sound… It sent a chilling arrow through Tony’s very bones. The sound of pleasure, of abandon, of his friend coming apart at the seams. Groans, rising up from inside him like an earthquake.

As he sped up, Stephen’s thigh muscles flexed with the strain, and he held on so tightly to Tony’s legs that it almost hurt. Sounds started spilling out of Tony’s mouth, small whimpers of disorientation as he felt the end approach and tried to thrust, to ram into that paradisiac heat, but he was trapped, wedged under Stephen and unable do anything but lie there and pant in a mounting sort of panic while Stephen rode him to the edge of the abyss.

_And now–_

_Now…_

A breathless grunt turned into a shrill moan as his thighs tensed and his hips tried to lift from the couch and he almost ruptured a disc as his body shook and shuddered and spurted into the snug heat of Stephen’s ass. Stephen kept on moving, but soon Tony felt the lukewarm spatters on his stomach, and he closed his eyes to the world as Stephen slowed down and finally pushed himself tight against Tony’s groin, milking the last drops.

When his breathing calmed down, he rose on his knees and pulled the condom off. Tony didn’t open his eyes. If he did, he knew he’d have to leave. He didn’t want to wander the midnight streets back to his parents’ house just because he was too embarrassed by what he’d done. But if he just kept his eyes closed, he’d be fine.

Stephen rolled off him, and Tony turned on his side, curling up as much as the couch allowed. Behind him, Stephen’s sweaty body pressed against his back, but he tried to think it away. He was tired. It had been a weird day, and the sex had him wrung out like a dish cloth. In the morning, they would laugh about it. It would all be normal, it would be their naughty boys-will-be-boys secret, one that they could grin to remember as one of them shot the other a raised eyebrow.

But as he floated away on the ebb of consciousness, one thought hovered at the edge of his mind, whispering worry into the fairyland of his dreams: _Stephen does this all the time._

_Stephen is gay._

# ***

He awoke with a start. The room was cold, but he was sweating. Stephen was gone.

Tony got up from the couch. Reaching for his phone, he checked the time. 4:08 am. He felt groggy.

What had woken him up?

_Oh… the front door. The lock, turning with a muffled click._

He cracked an eye open and saw Stephen disappear behind the backrest to the sleeping alcove. There were rustling noises as he undressed. Tony stared at the darkness, battling an urge to sit up and look. Where had Stephen been? It was none of Tony’s business, of course, but he couldn’t help himself.

There was the faint sound of naked feet on the floor, and then the swishing of sheets as Stephen got into bed. The apartment fell silent once again, but still Tony couldn’t relax.

Tony held his breath. He should just lie down and try to go to sleep. But the way Stephen looked, lying there… Tony swallowed, hard. He just needed to… what?

Still uncertain, he slowly got up from the couch. But of course it squeaked, and at once, Stephen turned to look. “You’re awake?”

“Oh… yeah.”

“Did I wake you up?”

“No, no…” Tony weighed on one foot, unsure of what to do. Should he pretend that he’d been on his way to the bathroom? “Uh… so… you’ve been out?”

“I went for a walk.”

Tony nodded, even though Stephen probably couldn’t see it. “Okay.” His voice was light, but his heart hammered on his vocal cords. “You, uh…”

“I don’t regret it.”

“Oh.”

“I liked it.”

Such candor. “It didn’t hurt, then?” Tony gulped.

“Not at all.”

They sounded as if they were talking about the weather. As if what they’d done was completely normal, even banal.

“You want to try it?” Stephen smiled through the darkness, and the world seemed to spin round, once. His voice was so soft, like the aural equivalent of a caress. So persuasive.

“What, uh… what do you mean?” Tony whispered back.

Stephen didn’t say anything, just gazed at him, eyes glinting in the shadows.

Coloring, Tony heard himself say, “Maybe you could… show me.”

“Only if you’re sure.”

Sure? How could he ever be sure? This might be the worst mistake of his life. Once could be explained away, but twice? That was frighteningly close to a habit.

And yet he said, “I’m sure. If you promise to stop if…”

“Of course.”

For a moment, nothing happened. Tony just stood there, hesitating, and Stephen watched him. And then Stephen gestured at the mattress beside him, and Tony took the cue. Lying down beside his friend, he felt like he was all arms. He didn’t know where to put them. His elbow poked into his own ribs, and his other arm lay like a barrier between them. He’d never felt more awkward in his life.

Squirming and writhing, he tried to help Stephen get his underwear off: a clumsy process that took far too long. “What’s the matter?” Stephen asked softly, lying down beside him and resting a light hand on his ribs.

“Nothing, get on with it.”

“You’ve changed your mind.”

“No.”

Stephen just gazed at him, almost sternly.

“It’s fine,” Tony snapped. “It’s just… I feel like such a klutz.”

Stephen’s eyes widened slightly. “Klutz?” His lips trembled around words that hesitated to come out. “Tony…” He tried shaking his head against the mattress, and Tony realized that he was hogging the pillow. But this was no moment for apologizing. It would make him seem even more gauche.

Maybe Stephen picked up on his wordless plea for leadership, because he inched closer and slipped a hand behind Tony’s back. As he began stroking his skin, Tony tried to forget his own ineptitude and just feel. But the interruption had brought an unwelcome streak of rationality into the mix, like a gust of cold air. He could no longer pretend that they were doing this because of some ‘heat of the moment’ lapse of sanity. Now he was walking into it with open eyes, and what did that mean?

What would it mean tomorrow?

Slowly, Stephen caressed his way down to Tony’s ass. His irises glittered in the darkness, intense and alert, ready to pick up on any signs of discomfort. Unable to bear the sight of him, Tony closed his eyes just as Stephen’s fingers brushed his crack. It tickled, and it felt fucking amazing. He held his breath, knowing that if he didn’t, he would let slip an undignified whine. Stephen’s middle finger folded into the yielding muscle, making Tony gasp. He didn’t enter, just applied some pressure on the opening until it relaxed.

“Okay?”

“Jesus…”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Stephen’s voice sounded strange, sort of… happy. For a split second, Tony’s brain flashed a neon I love you! before his inner defenses clanged into place. It’s just sex, he reminded himself. Just… stress relief.

Stephen’s finger was circling now, massaging Tony’s opening with a gentleness that belied the intensity. Tony knew that he was searching for a way in, and yet he could pretend like he didn’t, because his movements were so careful. But for each completed circle, his finger ended up further and further inside, until…

Tony’s body spasmed as Stephen nudged something sensitive. He knew about the prostate, of course, but this wasn’t it. Stephen hadn’t even made it past the first inch, and yet… Unable to stifle a groan, Tony arched his back and made Stephen’s finger push at the ignition point again. It was as if he touched a naked nerve ending that sent sparks flying all through Tony’s body. It was so intense that it almost hurt.

“Time for some lube, I think,” Stephen murmured, and his finger slipped out. Breathing too fast, Tony just lay there with his eyes closed, trying to get his wits back in the leash. Futile, he knew. In fact, he already knew that he wanted to do this again. Fuck…

When Stephen returned, his whole hand was covered in gel. Leaning over Tony, he whispered at him to roll onto his back and lift his knees. Thoroughly exposed, Tony held his breath… and then made a garbled moan as Stephen’s slick finger easily pushed inside. Tony’s muscles contracted, confused at the wrongness, at the strange pressure, at the movement inside… Stephen’s finger, inside his ass, oh God… His whole body tensed as it tried to accept the intrusion, tried to breathe. The finger down there was pushing further inside, a little at a time, and each time it pulled out, it brushed maddeningly against Tony’s tingling opening. The friction was so strange, almost cold somehow, or saccharine – his brain scrabbled for similes from senses that weren’t touch, that could explain how it was almost unbearable but not quite.

And then his mind went blank. There was no room for anything else. Just that finger, easing into him, relentless and patient, begging him to accept it. To feel.

“You okay?” came the whisper, and Tony looked up to see Stephen watching him, lips parted, slight crease between his eyebrows.

“Y-yeah…” He drew in a sharp breath as Stephen suddenly thrust his finger really deep inside, eyes still fixed on Tony as he threw his head back and opened his mouth wide in a scream that never came. Christ!

Perhaps because of Tony’s violent reaction, the finger stilled, waiting. Tony just breathed, eyes closed, recovering from the shock, and he could hear Stephen breathing too. He wanted to open his eyes, to look at him, but he didn’t think he could. The intimacy was already too much. Stephen was inside him. If their eyes met now, he would have a fucking seizure.

His ass was throbbing, a little painfully, but he needed more. He felt empty, his whole body a desperate welcome that needed confirmation. He started moving his hips, hoping Stephen would get the gist. And sure enough, he felt the pressure of another finger at his entrance and hissed as it was pushed in with the first one. And just as Tony thought it was too much, he felt warm lips wrap around the head of his cock. Oh God, the heat, the slitheringly smooth muscle closing so strongly on him…

With a barely muffled scream he came in Stephen’s mouth. Pulsing, shooting, all of him rushing out in one painful, tingling fountain. No… not already… not so soon! Gulping for air, he tried to tell Stephen that he still wanted it, still wanted the whole thing, but he didn’t have to. Stephen was already planting his knees in the mattress between Tony’s thighs and rolling on a condom.

And then a searing pain, like something splitting at the seams, shot through Tony’s ass. His eyes filled, and his whole body throbbed and burned. He wanted this, wanted Stephen to want him, to take him like this, but God… He tried to breathe, but it was just too much. Stephen was too big.

_Should I tell him to stop? What if I’m damaged? What if…?_

And then Stephen’s eyes flitted up, wide and damp, his lashes clumped together as if he’d been crying. Strands of dark hair clung to his temples and his cheeks, and his skin shone dully in the rogue beam from a streetlamp outside.

_Oh, Stephen_… He was so fucking beautiful.

The world swirled as Tony blacked out for a second. _He’s going to fuck me. I don’t care if it wrecks me forever. But when he surfaced again, the intense pain had become a vague ache. Maybe he wouldn’t be wrecked. Stephen knew what he was doing, right?_

_Right?_

His eyelids fluttered in indecisive alarm as Stephen slathered lube on the part of his cock that wasn’t buried inside Tony. Then he started rocking back and forth, teeth clenched in concentration. Tony wanted to say something, but he couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Stephen stilled again, looking down at him with eyes that seemed to grow suddenly pale. “Tony?” He paused, something like terror blooming on his face. “Fuck…” he began to pull out, but Tony dug his nails into his arms.

“Don’t.”

“But…” Stephen searched his face, looking young and frightened and confused. His eyes swerved down to the way they were pinioned together, as if he just now understood what they were doing – what he was doing. “My God, I’m sorry,” he gulped, mounting panic in his voice, and Tony did the only thing he could think of: he leaned up and caught Stephen’s head in his hands, found his mouth and covered it in a wet and clumsy kiss that made Stephen’s body jerk, sending his cock plunging deep inside Tony’s ass.

Their lips broke apart with a moist smack and a two-throated moan. Stephen barely held himself up on arms that trembled violently. Tony clung to him, pulled him down onto his damp chest. There was a wet sound as their stomachs slapped into each other, and he felt rough hairs scrape his nipples.

“I want it,” he tried to say, but it came out a whimper. He was so full down there, so… complete, somehow. Burying his face in Stephen’s shoulder, he tried to breathe normally. His ass was still adjusting to the intrusion as he felt a lubed hand search for his reawakening cock, and then…

Then Stephen really started moving. His breaths came hot and moist into Tony’s ear, and it didn’t matter that the hand that jerked and pulled at his cock was clumsy to the point of roughness, or that Stephen couldn’t quite manage the multi-tasking. His cock moved erratically inside Tony as he squeezed and panted and tried to get both off them off at the same time.

Attempting to help, Tony spread his legs wider, angled his hips, thrust upward to urge Stephen deeper. The movement sent Stephen into a groaning mess, and his hand slipped away from Tony’s cock as he started thrusting fast and hard. Tony’s moans came in short bursts, and the sounds seemed to egg Stephen on, make his eyes go dark, make him ram harder, his hips smacking into the backs of Tony’s thighs in a crazy rhythm that quickly spiraled into a chaotic rollercoaster of pleasure.

Tony wasn’t aware of the loud scream building in his throat until he felt Stephen cover his mouth with a sweaty hand and heard him whisper a panting “Shh, shh,” in his ear.

_The neighbors…_

Clenching his teeth, Tony whined through his nose as the most mind-shattering orgasm he’d ever experienced came out of the blue and swept him away. He could feel Stephen spurt and spasm, and then he slumped over Tony, wet and slippery and shivering. The weight of him was almost unbearable, the tickling of his hair against Tony’s neck and the final jerks of his still-hard cock inside his ass too real.

When Stephen pulled himself up a little to look Tony over with an anxious look on his face, the skin beneath his eyes shone with sweat or tears. Something about it conjured a cold and lonely feeling that crept up Tony’s spine like a river of ice. It was over.

Over.

He didn’t want Stephen to pull out of him. He wanted to stay like this forever, the wet, scratchy feeling of Stephen’s pubic hair chafing against the tender skin around his entrance, distended around his softening length.

But of course he couldn’t. Instead, he lowered his legs, wincing at the throbbing ache down there. Stephen climbed off him and stood up, looked around. His cock hung limp between his legs, curly damp hairs clinging to his groin. A few heart-stopping seconds went by. Tony had to say something. Anything.

Heavy footsteps fell on the floor above their heads and Stephen almost cowered. Seizing on that, Tony said, keeping his tone light, “God, I hope no one heard.” He tried to smile, but Stephen didn’t look at him. Instead he reached for his jeans, his back to Tony.

Tony got to his feet, feeling the phantom pain of Stephen’s presence in the way his hole tried to shrink back to its normal size, fit itself together after the invasion. It seemed not to know how to exist without Stephen anymore.

He stepped closer, touched Stephen’s arm. _Please say we’re alright_. Stephen glanced over his shoulder, eyes quick and shy. Tony leaned in for a kiss, and Stephen returned it, mouth reluctant but so, so soft.

A kiss. A fucking kiss. Yes, he’d joke-kissed him at that party, and he’d slobbered all over him while they fucked, but that was different. Now it was a conscious move.

Tony pulled away, a little too quickly. Pretending not to care, pretending that his chest wasn’t in fact imploding, jagged pieces of his ribs poking into his heart, he picked up his clothes and pulled them on. When he was done, he turned to Stephen, who was buttoning up his jeans. Swallowing, he said, “You… you won’t tell anyone, right? About… us?”

The word was dangerous, stupid. There was no ‘us.’ Just a moment of insanity when they’d fucked.

The silence stretched, grew hot. Tony’s hands were sweaty when Stephen finally looked at him. “Of course not.”

Their eyes locked. Tony’s throat closed, and he couldn’t breathe. Feeling a visible tremble start in his legs, he looked around for something to do, something physical, something to distract him. “We’re still friends, though, right?” he asked, trying for a devil-may-care tone. It didn’t quite work, but Stephen answered it in kind.

“Sure.”

Tony straightened up. He liked it. He felt stupid tears threaten. But Stephen had liked it. Wanted it. He must have. And so had Tony. So what was the problem? What was the panicked bird flying around his brain, wailing I need to be with you again?

“Well, if you ever want to let off steam, you know where to find me.” The words were flippant, but Tony could hear a tremble in his own voice, a vulnerable sound of longing. He was wrenching his heart open for Stephen to see. “Look, perhaps I should go home. We’re going to school tomorrow, so we’d better be rested, you know?”

_Good. Good. Talk about normal things._ Pointless, everyday things that he couldn’t care less about. Flailing inside, Tony hesitated on the cusp of catastrophe, and then he walked towards the hallway. “See you.”

Stephen nodded. “Yeah, bye.”

_Bye_. Tony wanted to close his ears to the word. It sounded so final, so emotionless. Forcing himself, he made for the door. _Please come after me. Please._

Not a sound.

_He regrets it. He hates me. I’ve ruined everything._

Just as he laid his hand on the handle, Stephen’s voice came – broken, hoarse and somehow wet: “Wait. Tony.”

Tony turned, eyes tangling in Stephen’s. They were warm and desperate, but he didn’t move, just stood there, arms hanging by his sides, his whole body screaming help me. Tony battled an urge to run, to leave all this mess behind. Nothing good could come of it. He should forget all about it. Should chalk it up to experimentation and never speak of it again.

But instead he urged his feet to walk back, all the way to where Stephen was standing, watching him with naked fear on his face. Reaching him, Tony stood close, too close, so close that they breathed the same air and their auras touched. His whole body pulsed in remembrance, feeling Stephen once again all over him, inside of him.

Stephen just looked at him, throat moving in a hard swallow.

Drawing on all the courage he possessed, Tony nuzzled close, stroked his nose-tip along Stephen’s jaw. He paused just at his mouth, and then pressed soft lips on his friend’s lips.

Stephen still didn’t move.

Tony slipped an arm around Stephen’s waist and stuck out a timid tongue, prodded at those plush lips the way Stephen had pushed his cock at Tony’s tender opening. With a hitchy sob-sound in his throat, Stephen opened his mouth to the intrusion. His arms came up to rest around Tony’s neck, held him tight as their tongues found and slowly tumbled around each other. Stephen’s breath was shivering in and out of his chest throughout the kiss, and tears were coursing down his cheeks even as he deepened the contact.

When they finally broke apart, he hid his face in Tony’s neck and cried outright. “I don’t want this,” he hiccupped, and Tony stroked his back and fought the burning pain in his eyes.

“I know.”

“We’re just friends.”

“Of course we are.” Tony hugged him closer, breathed in the sweetness of his cologne, the salty tang of his sweat. Suppressing the nay-saying part of himself, he whispered, “We always will be.”

Stephen stifled a whine and sniffled against his t-shirt, battling to control his sobbing breaths. “Thank you,” he whispered as he pulled away. He made to turn his back, but Tony caught his hand and held it, crushed it almost.

“Stephen, please… I…”

He trailed away, unable to say it: that he needed reassurance too, that he had to have something to live on until the next time they met. Some kind of hope, some kind of promise. Stephen hung his head and drew deep breaths, swallowing repeatedly. Then quickly, almost too quickly to register, he leaned in close to Tony’s ear and whispered, “I love you.”

Stepping back as if horrified with himself, he disappeared into the bathroom. The door slammed shut. Tony stood and stared at it for a moment, chest too tight. Then, creeping silently closer to the wooden boundary now keeping them apart, he leaned his head against it and said:

“I love you too.”

Slowly the door was opening:

“Do you?”

“Yes.” said Tony without hesitation and knew that Seven minutes in heaven is the start of something beautiful.


End file.
